My Mum has type 1 - had it since she was 13, she's now 87. My mum-in-law had it too, and was a simply terrible diabetic compared to my mum. My mum NEVER used sugar in cooking - we added it afterwards. She always followed the appropriate diet. My wife's mum would sneak the odd bar of chocolate or sugary treat and simply adjust her insulin. My sister in law is a type 1 too, and is like her mother - diabetes is just a nuisance. My father in law had type 2 later in his life and controlled it with diet. I used to be a college lecturer and loads of my old students had diabetes in both versions - some with pills, some injecting and some diet controlled.
There are some things you do need to know. In the past, the diabetic nurses were truly excellent, but now it's a very short course, and most now have never had it - so their knowledge is extremely limited. My mum goes for her hospital checkups and they tinker with her insulin and her lifestyle, telling her to do this, not to do that, yet she understands the condition far better, having had it for longer than they've been alive.
The critical feature is that every diabetic is different, and the physical effects you feel ate unique to you. The reaction to blood sugar and the presence of keytones is the important thing for you to learn. If your sugar is higher than normal, can you detect it BEFORE you test, or is the test the first indication of the deviation from your personal norm? Most long term, diabetics become aware of the changes quite quickly and can compensate before it's an issue. For my mum, as an example, if she has a wobbly - which as she has got older and a bit more absent minded, comes more often, even when she is showing the symptoms - the drunken style rambling and slurred speech and the giggles she still resists sweet tasting food. Trying to get a sweet or even a biscuit into her can be quite difficult. Train your friends and family with the 'what ifs' - explain that if this happens, I will appear to be a bit drunk - but I'm not. Teach them what to do. The ambulance people are excellent - they know what to do. The diabetic nurses and doctors surgeries in my own experience as a family member are pretty crap. My mum's last appointment with the diabetic nurse was typical. "SO how long have you been diabetic?" "over 70 years". "Oh - you probably know more than me then. " Mum asked a question not covered on her course, so she had to come in two weeks later to see the other diabetic nurse who knew a bit more about insulin - really!
Do your research. Test regularly and build up a pattern - how you feel, any indicators - the dryness, wee habits and then see if your blood sugar spikes at certain times in the day - if it does, can you perhaps shift a meal time forwards or backwards. If you work and meals are fixed, will you feel better if you snack a bit early, or drink more to move things on a bit faster?
There is a feeling that the medical profession diagnose you, then scare the shit out of you, and then leave you to deal with it. Most diabetics once they get stabilised and informed can carry on as they did before. You will soon learn what foods impact your sugar levels and which don't. They will be generic, but also some specific. Once you know how fast they work and in what direction, managing your condition becomes quite easy. Remember that diabetics fall into two categories - those that allow it to become a big deal and chase their sugar levels every hour, every day - and those that do NOT allow it to have an impact at all. Just sensible stuff like rejecting one desert in a restaurant for another, and perhaps having to say goodbye to a few favourite things because they're just going to make you feel a bit poorly later.
Double check the suggestions made by diabetic nurses who have had less training than you have. Join the British Diabetic Association and discover all kinds of tips and hints - AND - read about famous people who have the condition, manage it, and don't treat it like an illness. Type 1 or 2 diabetes is perfectly manageable. One person I know is an appealing diabetic. She frequently keels over and collapses unconscious. She sometimes breaks things own the way down. Her legs might take 6 months to heal because her circulation is terribly bad. However - the Bacardi and wine she refuses to give up probably are causing this. She smokes heavily too. Her general health is grim, her attitude to her diabetes stinks, and she's not willing to adjust her lifestyle to improve it. She is, however, still alive and in her 60s, having had it since her teens. She is the opposite of a role model. The hospitals cannot do anything with her. Sensible people can manage it easily, but the vital thing for you is to make contact with other people with it. Do NOT expect the medical professionals to understand how it feels, or how their advice works in practice. I've grown up with all these people with diabetes around me and I can assure you the condition is as bad as you allow it to be. There are some pathetically embarrassing diabetics who treat it like a life threatening illness and spend their life microscopically following medical advice, panicking when they get a sugar spike in their blood sugar. You want to be the one of those who take a balanced view and can look back an hour or so and work out what you did/did not do, and adjust.
Diet can only go so far, so if there's not much you can cut out, maybe you need to change something else that will have an impact.
Best wishes Paul
